Brassiere



IApril 4, 1939.

M. K. CHILDS BRASSIRE Filed Apr vzlg. 5.

Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to womens under garments and moreparticularly to improvements in brassires.

It is well recognized that brassires are worn 5 under the outer clothingto afford ease and comfort to the wearer andat the same time preservethe natural form or contour of the body. Heretofore, it has beencustomary to employ a body encircling member formed with pockets or thel like that are adapted to encompass thebreasts and support the same inthe proper position. These garments have further been provided withshoulder straps for holding the body encircling member in the desiredlocation and separable fasten- 15 ers attached to the rear of thegarment for enabling the same to be fastened to the body of the wearer.

The garments above referred to, however, have not proven completelysatisfactory. In the first place, they are somewhat uncomfortable, andin the second place, they do not 'afford sufliciently natural supportfor the breasts.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a brassirethat will overcome the above and other undesirable features.

Another object of this invention is to provide a brassire that willalways support the breasts in an attractively upright and desirableposition.

Still another object of this invention is to prof vide a brassire inwhich the breast supporting pockets are provided with reinforcedportions which substantially improve the form fitting characteristicsthereof.

In order to achieve the above and other objects, the brassire includes apair of conically shaped pockets that are adapted to fit snugly over thebreasts. The pockets are preferably formed with an upper portion and alower support portion.

One means of affording the necessary reinforcing to the pockets, is toprovide a series of lines or rows of stitches that describe a spiralabout the apex of the pocket, the lines of stitches beginning andterminating in the lower support portion to form therein a series ofoverlapped rows of stitches. I'hese overlapped rows of stitches in thelower portion of the pocket greatly increase the supporting efficiencythereof and provide a means for firmly holding the breasts in an uprightposition.

I have also found that a satisfactory pocket member may comprise a lowersupport portion reinforced by a series 4of overlapped rows of stitchingand an upper portion having no reinforcing stitching.

The present invention, however, has other advantageous features andpossesses additional objects that will become apparent from a study ofthe embodiments of the invention illustrated herein.

To facilitate an adequate comprehension of my invention, reference isdirected to the accompanying drawing which illustrates the preferredform of my inventive concept, it being understood, however, thatnumerous changes may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutexceeding the scope of my invention as described by the annexed claims.

Referring to the drawing in which like numerals designate similar.parts:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational View of a brassire depicting one form ofmy invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the garment shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detailed view of the various elements which when assembledform the brassire pocket as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a front elevational view partly broken away showing amodified form of my inventive concept.

Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the center section of mybrassire as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a front elevational view of a. modified pocket member.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularlyA Figure 1, there isillustrated a brassire having conically shaped pockets or breastencircling portions I and 2. The pockets can be made of any desirablematerial, such as silk, lace, net or any fabric that will readilyconform to the configuration of the breasts of the wearer. It will benoted that side portions 3 and 4 are disposed adjacent the pockets I and2 and extend beneath the arms of thewearer. Each side portion tapersdownwardly from its juncture to the pockets, as shown at 6 and anelastic element 1 is suitably secured to the portion 3. The opposite endof the element 'I carries suitable fastening members adapted to engagecorresponding fasteners secured to the side portion 4 in order to securethe garment around the body of the wearer.

In addition, adjustable shoulder straps I0 of any desirable structureand` material are suitably attached to the garment for extending overthe shoulders, thereby holding the brassire in the correct position.

To provide a more natural separation of the breast, it will be seen thata fabric member I I of relatively stout material is positioned betweenIt will further be noted that the mid portion of the garment isfashioned at the lower edge as shown at I4.

An elastic strap I extends horizontally beneath the portion I4 and isattached at each end to extensions I2 and I3. It is manifest that theelastic strap I5 will urge the fabric member II inwardly between thebreasts and maintain the pockets I and 2 closely in position over thebreasts.

To assure a proper configuration of the breasts, reference is directedto Figure 3 wherein is illustrated the manner in which the pockets I and2 are formed. Fabric members I'I and I3 show the design of the two lowerportions forming pocket members I and 2 as described in connection withFigure 1. A fabric member I9 shows the design of the upper portion ofthe pockets. A notch 20 formed in the member I9 affords the necessaryconical effect for the pocket. The fabric members I'I, I8 and I 9 areadapted to be stitchedtogether as depicted by the seams 2i.

As previously mentioned, an important feature of this invention is theprovision for reinforcing the breast encircling pockets. In Figure 1, itcan be seen that the lower portion of the pocket 2 is provided with aplurality of rows of stitches 23. The said rows of stitches describe aspiral about the apex of the cone of the pocket substantiallyterminating adjacent to the line of juncture of the pocket to the sideportion II. By thusarranging the rows of stitches, there will be formeda plurality of substantially parallel rows of stitches 22 in the upperportion of the pocket, and a plurality -of overlapped rows of stitches23 in the lower portion. Obviously, the overlapped rows 23 in the lowerportion of the pocket will materially strengthen the supporting areathereof and will thereby maintain the breast in a firm upright position.v

It is to be understood, however, that the overlapped rows of 'stitches23 can be formed in other ways and the particular arrangement shownherein is for the purpose of illustrating my inventive concept.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the fabric member II inconjunction with the elastic strap I5 will affect a separation of thebreasts and the shape of the pockets I and 2 together with theoverlapped rows of stitches 23 will maintain the breasts in anattractively upright and desirably natural position.

In Figure 4, there is shown a modified form of my garment. In thisembodiment, the pockets are formed with a lower supporting section 24that is preferably made of fabric, such as silk. The upper section 25 isformed of net or lace and is attached to the lower section 24. The lowerand upper sections 24 and 25 may be suitably secured to the fabric sideportion 4 in any desirable manner.

In this modification it will be seen that the inner edge of the uppersection 25 tapers downwardly thereby maintaining the desired separationof the breasts. However, in order to further facilitate a more naturalseparation and support of the breasts, elastic strap 21, 21' secured tothe top portion of the pocket, extend along the edge of top section 25substantially parallel with the tapered portion of the pocket to avertically positioned fabric strip 28 at the midpoint of the brassire.

Clearly, the elastic member 21, 21' will iirmly hold the inner pocketportions of the garment so as to aii'ect a support means capable ofmaintaining the breasts in a desirably upright and natural position.

It will be observed that overlappingrows of stitching 23 for reinforcingthe lower portion of the pocket members are arranged in substantiallythe same manneras those described with respect to Figure 1. It will alsobe observed that while the upper portion of the pocket member extendsdownwardly from a point at the apex oi the pocket, along the lines ofjuncture 26 with the lower portion, the arrangement, wherebysubstantially parallel rows of stitching beginning and terminating inthe lower pocket portion so as to form a series of overlapped rows inthe lower portion is substantially the same as shown in Figure 1.

In Figure 6 I have shown a modified stitching arrangement for a brassirepocket. In this embodiment, in the lower pocket portion 30, overlappingrows of stitching, substantially as shown in Figures 1 and 4, serve asthe support means for the pocket members. It will be seen thatsubstantially parallel rows of stitching are terminated at the lines ofjuncture of the upper and lower pocket portions and, as shown, do notextend into the upper pocket portion 29.

It is understood that either arrangement of stitching as i'or examplethe arrangement as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4 or the modification, asshown in Figure 6 is adaptable for use in substantially any stylebrassire as for example as shown in Figures 1 or 4.

While I have illustrated and described the 1:.eferred form of myinvention, it is to be understood that I am to be limited only by theprior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bust molding and supporting construction comprising a pair ofbreast-receiving pockets preformed to approximately conical shape, and aplurality of lines of stitches carried by each of said pockets, saidlines of stitching originating and terminating in the lower half of eachpocket and extendng from one side of the lower half toward the otherside, then passing upwardly into the upper half, encircling the apex ofthe pocket, entering the lower half on the side of origination, crossingthemselves in the lower half of the pocket, and then extending into saidother side of the lower half to form an overloop, the ends of said loopextending in a virtually horizontal plane in said lower half of thepocket, whereby said stitching forms side to side tension membersadapted to resist sagging of the breast while permitting the upperportion to be suitably molded.

2. A breast pocket construction comprising a preformed stitchedbreast-receiving pocket of approximately conical shape made from aflexible open material, and a plurality of spaced virtually parallellines of stitching extending from one side of the lower half of saidpocket, describing a reverse loop in the upper half, crossing themselvesin the ,lower half, and extending into the opposite side of the lowerhalf whereby said stitching forms side to side tension members adaptedto resist sagging of the breast contained in said pocket.

3. A bust molding and supporting construction comprising a pair ofattached breast-receiving pockets preformed to approximately conical atthe side opposite the side of origination; the

shape, and a plurality ui parallel curved lines of stitches carried byeach of said pockets, said curved lines VofJstitching originating in thelower half of each pocket and extending from one side of said lower halfupwardly toward the other side, then passing into the upper half andconcentrically semi-circling the apex o'f the pocket to form a series ofconcentric loops, then extending downwardly to the rear, entering thelower halt 1|) of the pocket and terminating in the lower half extendedends of the plurality of such series of loops crossing themselves in thelower half of the pocket whereby said stitched lines create tensionmembers in a criss-crossed diamond-shaped pattern adapted to resist andsupport the lower portion of the breasts while permitting the upperportion to be suitably molded.

